Kevin Vickerson slowly dressed as he spoke to a handful of reporters in the Kansas City locker room on Sunday night after the Chiefs’ 24-17 loss to the Broncos. On his mind? Getting another chance to beat Denver — the team that cut him at the end of August after four years of being the team’s starting defensive tackle.

“It was a business decision by them (the Broncos), a business decision by me to come here (to Kansas City) so I could play them twice,” Vickerson, 31, said. “They made a business decision; I made a business decision. I could have went to Cincinnati, but I chose these guys. That’s who we’re going to ride with: Chiefs.”

Kevin Vickerson visited the Bengals on Tuesday and took a physical. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

Kevin Vickerson, a starting Broncos’ defensive tackle since the start of the 2010 season until he was released Saturday, visited the Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday and took a physical.

The Bengals, however, will not sign Vickerson this week, according to an NFL source. Possibly next week. Any vested veteran (four years or more of NFL service time) who is on a team’s season-opening roster automatically has his full-season salary guaranteed.

Vickerson is 31 and coming off a dislocated hip injury, which presents enough question mark for a team to minimize its risk.

But I would say this to the Bengals: Before he got hurt in game 11 last season at New England, Vickerson was the Broncos’ best defensive lineman. Tackle, end, nose guard or otherwise. For a playoff contender, Vickerson is worth waiting on to see if he can regain form.

If the Seattle Seahawks played the Super Bowl without left tackle Russell Okung, cornerback and best defensive player Richard Sherman, safety Earl Thomas, defensive end/tackle Michael Bennett, defensive ends Cliff Avril and Chris Clemons and center Max Unger, would they have beat the Broncos?

Because that’s essentially what the Broncos had to do as they played without left tackle Ryan Clady, top defensive back Chris Harris, safety Rahim Moore, best pass rusher Von Miller, defensive end/tackle Derek Wolfe, defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson and center Dan Koppen/J.D. Walton.

QUOTABLE: It’s not often that we lead with a quote, but John Elway finished off the end-of-year press conference on Tuesday at Dove Valley memorably — on his own terms, with a fiery, passionate remark that wasn’t in response to a question from a media member. It was off-the-cuff, but the kind of statement he must have been waiting to make in the 48 or so hours since the team suffered such a lopsided loss. It captured the feelings — his, and those of the entire organization — that had been simmering since Sunday and reminded us that at his heart, he’s still deeply competitive. Elway demands the best, but was asking people to not judge the team’s season by one game — no matter how awful. We included his comments in full:

The Broncos’ Sylvester Williams (92), Robert Ayers (91) and Terrance Knighton (94) take down San Diego’s Danny Woodhead. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

JERSEY CITY — N.J. — In the Broncos’ playoff loss last year against the Baltimore Ravens, their starting defensive line was, right to left, Elvis Dumervil, Justin Bannan, Kevin Vickerson and Derek Wolfe.

For their two playoff wins this year and Super Bowl on Sunday against Seattle, the Broncos’ D-line will start Malik Jackson, Terrance Knighton, Sylvester Williams and Shaun Phillips.

Leading these men upfront is Jay Rodgers, who played quarterback at the same Westlake High School in Austin, Texas as Drew Brees and Nick Foles and started his sophomore season at Indiana University.

“I remember playing and those guys used to chase me,” Jay Rodgers said. “Now my guys are chasing quarterbacks. I have a good understanding of how offenses work, how protections work, how run game work, how to attack defenses. And I can apply what I’ve learned on the offensive side to what my guys face on defense. I had a great mentor in Wayne Nunnely. He really took me underneath his wings. When Jack (Del Rio) came in there were certain standards he was used to and I was apply that standard to the guys.”

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Here’s some encouraging health news. Derek Wolfe and Rahim Moore, starters on the Denver defense who experienced unusual medical setbacks that ended their season, were cleared to fly Thursday and have joined the Broncos here for the rest of Super Bowl week.

It’s the first time the players have flown on a team-related matter since their ailments. Moore has been out since undergoing emergency surgery Nov. 18 to repair a circulatory condition in his lower left leg called lateral compartment syndrome.

I especially loved what PFF wrote about Champ: “It was just one game, but it was a big one on a huge stage. Looking for redemption for last year’s awful playoff performance against Baltimore, Bailey stepped in for the fallen Chris Harris, Jr. in the AFC Championship. He played 56 of 59 snaps (38 of them in the slot) and allowed just four yards on three targets. He had the best game of any cornerback that Sunday; he just forgot to scream about it afterwards.”

Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

PFF did error slightly with Jackson, though. He primarily replaced Derek Wolfe at defensive end. It was Sylvester Williams who replaced Kevin Vickerson at left defensive tackle. Jackson does play inside in the nickel sub packages but he’s done that since Day 1.

“Next Man Up” has been the Broncos’ mantra this season since Von Miller got hit with his season-opening suspension. And it’s been never-ending. Speaking of Miller, Nate Irving deserved an honorable mention.

John Elway, left, and Matt Russell, right, walk off the field in 2012 after a game agains the Raiders. (John Leyba, Denver Post file)

Have you noticed?

Tom Heckert and Matt Russell have been beat up pretty good in the public eye this year following their DUI arrests in the summer. But the Broncos ability to replace so many injured stars this season says John Elway’s top two football assistants have been pretty good at their jobs.

Chris Harris has already undergone his MRI exam Monday morning and is at the Broncos’ facility. Now he and the team await the results.

There is fear Harris has suffered a serious knee injury and if realized, the Broncos would have to play without one of their most invaluable defensive players Sunday against the New England Patriots — and Super Bowl XLVIII if the Broncos make it that far.

The Broncos have endured injuries to Ryan Clady, Von Miller, Kevin Vickerson, Rahim Moore and Derek Wolfe. The team has overcome mainly because it has been able to keep Peyton Manning healthy.

My first answer is Champ Bailey, unequivocally. He’s perhaps the best cornerback of his generation, and there’s really no replacement for Champ being Champ. Problem is, I’m not sure Champ can be Champ anymore. So yes, the Broncos missing him in is prime is the biggest loss, but them missing 35-year-old Champ might not be the most gaping hole.

So if we’re asking who they miss at his current level of play, I’m going to go with Vickerson. The Broncos’ run defense has fallen off, especially since Vickerson was shut down for the season, and he’s something of the veteran leader among the group.

Of course, that’s just my opinion, and really, having any one of those four guys back would be a big boost to this defense.

The NFL has slapped a $10,000 fine on Broncos defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson for the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty he received for “striking an opponent in the leg area,” during an Indianapolis Colts’ extra point kick with 5 minutes left in the third quarter last Sunday.

The penalty wasn’t enforced as fellow defensive tackle Terrance Knighton also received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the play.

Several Broncos came to Vickerson’s defense, saying Colts blockers were occasionally chippy within the scrum play at the line of scrimmage.

Broncos defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson and running back Knowshon Moreno took a financial hit this week when the NFL fined each player $7,875 for the unnecessary-roughness penalties they drew last week against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Vickerson drew his penalty during an Eagles punt to the end zone for a touchback late in the second quarter. Moreno was flagged a couple plays later.

These 27 players went through a fairly strenuous conditioning workout on the Sports Authority Field at Mile High about three hours prior to the Broncos’ preseason game Thursday night against the Arizona Cardinals.

Because of the conditioning workout, these 27 players won’t play tonight:

“Expectations are high and that’s just it,” Vickerson said. “We know what we’ve got to do. We had a bad taste to our season ending last year. We’re trying to get that out and go forward and go further than we did last year.”

If the Broncos go 14-2 and lose their first playoff game in the second — bad season.

The first-round selection of defensive tackle Sylvester Williams means veterans Kevin Vickerson and Terrance Knighton will not be able to coast through training camp and expect to start in the season opener, Sept. 5 against the Baltimore Ravens.

Vickerson, 30, has been a starter the past three seasons along the Broncos’ interior front. He is 6-4 and went from 285 pounds in 2011 to 330 pounds in 2012.

Knighton, who turns 27 on the Fourth of July, started in his first three seasons for Jacksonville, but was benched in 2012. He came on for Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio in 2010, registering 4.0 sacks. Del Rio is now the Broncos’ defensive coordinator.

Free agency is usually accompanied by the excitement of new talent and new possibilities.

But it’s also a bittersweet time in the NFL because with every new player who is acquired, another player has probably lost his job.

The Broncos reached an agreement Tuesday with right guard Louis Vasquez. He’s a promising addition as he’s large (335), talented (four-year starter in San Diego) and young (25). But Vasquez’s arrival also puts Chris Kuper’s place on the team in jeopardy. Kuper is a six-year starter on the Broncos’ offensive line. He is the O-line’s leader. And he’s a real good guard when healthy.

But with a $4.5 million salary due in 2013 and coming off two surgeries on his left ankle in the past 13 months, Kuper was vulnerable.

The Broncos held the run-oriented Pittsburgh Steelers to 2.9 yards per carry in the opener and stuffed Atlanta tailback Michael Turner to just 42 yards on 17 carries — a 2.5 yard average — on Monday night.

Mike Klis has been with The Denver Post since 1998, after working 13 years with the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph. Major League Baseball was Klis' initial passion. He started covering the Colorado Rockies after Coors Field was approved for construction in August 1990.

Nicki Jhabvala is the Sports Digital News Editor for The Denver Post. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor, and she was most recently the overnight home page editor at the New York Times. She has reported regularly on the Broncos since joining the staff.

A published author and award-winning journalist, Benjamin Hochman is a sports columnist for The Denver Post. He previously worked on the staff of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, winners of two Pulitzer Prizes for their Hurricane Katrina coverage.